Meta

writing

Gemma Mawdsley, now working on her sixteenth novel called Bonded by Blood, is an internationally renowned writer of Gothic horror novels. Since moving to West Clare last February, this Limerick Lady is enjoying getting inspiration for her writing from her quiet, fruitful surroundings.

“I love my adopted county. From the window of my upstairs office, I can see the fields stretching out for miles, and it’s a joy to watch the ever-changing kaleidoscope of colours. The people here are really friendly, and the men seem to have retained some of that old world charm. At times, it feels I have stepped back decades,” said Gemma.

Gemma’s fascination with the gothic began at a young age, when, gathered around an open fire at her Grandmothers, where there was an old graveyard at the back of the house, her imagination was fuelled by ghost stories, some about her Granny’s resident ghost.

At ten years of age, Gemma had her first taste of success when her poem was published in the Limerick Leader. However, it wasn’t until years later, when her mother died, needing a distraction from her grief, she enrolled for a creative writing course at the University of Limerick run by David Rice.

Her journey through writing styles eventually led her to combining her love of history and the paranormal to create a unique genre, which has seen her career as a writer go from strength to strength.

“My first novel, The Paupers’ Graveyard, dealt with the famine. I did countless hours of research as the topic is such an important one and sadly, many of these famine graveyards are neglected and unmarked, when they should be as important to our culture and history as Egypt’s Tombs of the Kings.”

Gemma’s second book, Whispers, is told by two spirit children who inhabit an industrial school, a story which was inspired by the reports of abuse in industrial schools which have dominated headlines in Ireland over the last number of years.

Currently working on three books, (Erebus, the story of a haunted house over three generations; The Wraith, about a mother trying desperately to find her kidnapped child; Bonded by Blood, three sisters who are determined to destroy one another), this prolific author has still found time to enjoy exploring her new surroundings, especially the coastal areas, visiting small cottage businesses and writing about them on her author pages.

“I’m hoping to write from September to June, so I can take the summer months to enjoy my new surrounding and all the beauty Clare has to offer.”

When Gemma isn’t writing she enjoys sewing period costumes for her antique doll collection, but is especially looking forward to long walks in the Clare countryside with her new dog, Toby.

“I’m aware that many people hate the dark, winter nights, but I’m in my element. I like nothing more than the crisp, frosty mornings and as the evenings draw in, the strange scurrying in the hedgerows, as the nocturnal foragers come to life.

“One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given recently is, that if I’m walking late at night and hear, what seems to be the cough of an old man coming from behind the bushes, not to panic. It is the cough of a cow. I don’t know how true that is, but it made me smile.”

Growing up, her favourite book was Anne of Green Gables. Now she tends to read detective novels, so as not to be influenced by other horror writers, her favourite author is Val Mc Dermid and her favourite film is An Enchanted April.

After all these years Gemma still loves telling stories through the medium of writing, and has enjoyed hearing many ghost stories since she moved to Clare.

“But I have frightened myself. Most of the stories I would write come from mythology. When I was writing Death Cry, it’s about the banshee. I’m afraid of loud noises and at one stage I actually came out and sat on the stairs, just to get away from it.”

Though Gemma doesn’t claim to be psychic she is very sensitive, and has had a lot of experiences that she can’t explain, such as her encounter with the ghost of an old housekeeper at an historic manor in Bedfordshire.

“I think as well, when I’m writing the characters are alive for me, I sometimes think I see something from the corner or my eye, but that’s probably that you are caught up in the tension of it all.

“That’s why I think people like the ghost stories, because people get the thrill, and that, it couldn’t really happen, but at the same time you have the thrill of thinking could it?” said Gemma.

Though Gemma has visited many fortune tellers, she wouldn’t go to mediums, or advise anyone to have anything to do with Ouija boards, however she does believe in Quantum theory, which is where the two worlds run parallel, the real world and the spirit world, and sometimes cross over when you can see spirits.

“People would often say, if I go, do you want me to come back? And I say, no, keep going, you’re fine where you are, don’t tell me, let me be surprised,” added Gemma.

The Paupers’ Graveyard, Death Cry and Whispers are available to buy on Amazon. For more information on her books see

I recently chatted with Roisin Meaney, one of Ireland’s most successful authors, who has just seen her latest novel, The Reunion, top the Irish bestsellers list for six weeks in a row.

This prolific author’s career will soon hit an even greater high, when she becomes even more of an international sensation, with offers of translation deals from Russian and Norwegian publishers in the pipeline.

“I already have adult books in the US, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, so it’ll be great to have two more territories to add to the list,” said Roisin.

Author of thirteen adult and two children’s books, Roisin shows no signs of slowing down, as she is currently in the process of writing her fourteenth novel which will be published in June 2017.

Always on the lookout for new storylines, the inspiration for her latest book came from a reunion at the last place she taught, the Limerick School Project.

“I spent the evening talking with parents of children I’d taught over the years, and one of them remarked that a reunion might make a good theme for a book, and so it came to pass,” said Roisin.

Prior to her success as a writer, having qualified as a primary school teacher, Roisin taught in Dublin for a number of years. Then she moved on to teach English in Zimbabwe, after that she worked as an advertising copywriter in London, and then returned to teach in Ireland.

In 2001 she decided to try and write a book, but was unsuccessful with her first attempt, which was a collection of stories for children. At this point she took a writing course given by David Rice at the Killaloe Hedge School in Clare.

It was while on another break from teaching, while staying with one of her brothers who lived in San Francisco, that Roisin wrote, The Daisy Picker, the book which launched her career when it won Tivoli Publishers ‘Write a Bestseller’ competition. The prize was a two book deal, and on the strength of her win she got an agent.

When she returned to Ireland she resumed her teaching career, and wrote her second book, Putting Out the Stars, in her spare time. In 2006 she signed up with Hodder Headline Ireland, now Hachette Books Ireland, and in 2008 Roisin gave up teaching to concentrate on her career as an author.

A disciplined writer, who always meets her deadlines and plans her writing, Roisin prefers to work at the kitchen table. She structures her day as a normal work day and then takes the evenings off. Her first draft would usually take six months then she spends the next four to six months fine-tuning the text.

Roisin conducts research for each of her books, in order to thoroughly know her characters and make them true to life, she interviews people who work at jobs that her characters have.

“I’ve spoken with doctors, nurses, barristers, guards, sheep farmers, social workers and artists. I signed up for a life drawing class when I was writing The Things We Do for Love, and I spoke with the model during the break. I’m currently looking for a musician to chat to about my work in progress.”

Roisin enjoys writing compelling stories with interesting characters and usually starts with a plot, “but some of my plots are pretty sketchy so it’s a case of growing the story as I write it, and this can go in a direction I didn’t expect. My first book in particular, The Daisy Picker, turned out very differently from what I had planned.”

Roisin believes her writing style has evolved since she was first published, and feels she is learning a little more with each book she writes. She becomes emotionally involved with her characters when writing, and recalls crying while writing a scene in her novel One Summer where a character dies, “I love writing that’s unexpected, that you don’t see coming. And also writing that moves you, in any way.”

Roisin enjoys the glitz and glamour of book launches, but equally enjoys an escape away to the sun, or relaxing with a glass of wine or cup of tea, with a book by the fire where she competes for space on the couch with her two cats Fred and Ginger who snuggle up beside her.

She loves to read and write general fiction and mostly enjoys books about ordinary people, “I don’t mind which era the novels I read are set in, as long as the storyline keeps me hooked and the characters are ones I can warm to. If a book doesn’t grab me in 50 pages I toss it aside. Life’s too short.”

Roisin’s top three favourite books are Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Ann Tyler and 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. She has just finished reading, All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan’s, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Of all the books she has ever read Roisin wishes she had written, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It’s got it all – humour, pathos, heartbreak, joy.”

One of Roisin’s favourite films is Love Actually, “It has its corny moments but on the whole it’s a joy from start to finish. I love all the different stories and the connections that become apparent gradually.”

Not one to suffer from writer’s block, if Roisin is ever stuck in her writing, she will go for a walk or do a bit of gardening. But why does she write?

“That’s easy, because I love it. Even when it’s hard I love it. I pinch myself regularly to make sure I’m not dreaming. Sometimes it seems too good to be true that I’m getting paid to make stuff up,” she smiled.

Share this:

Like this:

Congratulations to the team of talented writers at Goos3D.ie for being shortlisted in the Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016, the ceremony will take place at Duffy’s Circus in Dun Laoghaire, September 15.

Goos3D.ie were also shortlisted in the Realex Web Awards 2016, the ceremony will take place in Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin, September 28.

Goos3D.ie (pronounced goosed), should be the first stop for anyone who might be a technophobe, or for anyone who is curious about the latest gadgets on the market. Started in 2014, it was founded on the concept of making technology useful and fun.

The team of four talented and technology minded writers are Jon Harrison (my nephew) and Dean Ahern from Limerick, Gary Cronin from Dublin, and Martin Meany from Kilkenny, who were all educated in the University of Limerick and are past phone shop employees.

“Everyone has this amazing device in their pocket that connects them to the rest of the world in a second, and we found that, in terms of general consumer needs, the market was threadbare.

“Most sites and companies focus on the statistics and specifications of the latest technology, which is not of interest to the general public. The vast majority of sites just wouldn’t appeal to the Irish market as they covered devices or services that were not available here. The Goos3d team attempts to answer the questions people care about,” said Jon.

Goos3D.ie covers anything from the latest technology gadgets to entertainment services. The team have attended many launches such as the Samsung Note7 and have been to two Web Summits.

“Netflix is probably one of our favourite things to cover. It provides this unique bridge for users to overcome barriers to technology adoption. If people want to binge watch House of Cards, they will learn how to install the Netflix app on their phone. Then people start to question their broadband provider’s speeds.

“We have some villages in Ireland getting Gigabit broadband. It’s crazy what a little bit of interest in technology can lead to. And that’s what Goos3D.ie is all about, getting people interested and excited about technology that’s relevant to them and to get them trying out new technology,” Jon added.

Adoption of technology is one of the reasons Goos3D.ie has been shortlisted in the Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016. Their article on “Why does Windows come with Solitaire”, is up for the “Best blog post” award.

“The article looks at the games the early versions of Microsoft Windows came with. While the games were entertaining, they also eased users into using new technology without even knowing about it. For example, Solitaire showed users how to practice clicking and dragging with the mouse,” said Jon.

Goos3D.ie has also been shortlisted for “Best digital and tech blog” in the Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016, while also being nominated for “Best science and technology” website and “Best online only publication” in the Realex Web Awards 2016.

“It’s a really exciting time for everyone involved in running Goos3D.ie, so here’s hoping we can bring home the gold. Regardless, we’ll stick to our mantra of making technology fun and useful for everyone,” added Jon.

Best of luck to all involved. I’m especially proud to have a fellow writer in the family, well done Jon.